Situated Learning in Cross-Functional Virtual Teams    

This paper reports an interpretive study of three cross-functional teams in a single company. The teams were virtual because each was composed of workers located in a small southern U. S. town and a northern U. S. city. The conceptual framework of situated learning within communities of practice guided the interpretation of transcripts of interviews with 22 managers and team members. The results suggest that virtual teamwork creates special demands that require workers to devise local practices for coordinating their work with remote team members. Through different combinations of remote and face-to-face communication, using a variety of communication media, the learning of work practices became situated in the virtual community rather than imposed by managers or specially designed coordinating technologies.

Robey, Daniel, Huoy Min Khoo and Carolyn Powers. Technical Communication Online (2000). Articles>Collaboration>Workplace>Online

Situating the Adult Learner in the Online Classroom  

Adult learners in the online classroom present new challenges for educational institutions and instructors. Often instructors create the online course by copying course syllabi, content, and assignments to the online course website. Along with the using the same content, instructors try to adapt their current pedagogical practices to the online classroom. This paper explores the aspects of adult learning in an online environment, discusses how it differs from the traditional educational environment, and offers suggestions for facilitating a successful online classroom for the adult learner.

Hoy, Cheryl. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Education>Online

"Slapping" It Online: Is It Really So Bad?  

Moving vast quantities of information online has been a challenge. While we believe the screen is not the page, we have moved hardcopy documents online with little transformation. Our customers have responded positively. We are not sure if our customers are really satisfied with the online version, or if they just use the online version as an access method to hardcopy information. If they are truly satisfied, should we follow tested models to improve the online version, or accept and design for our customers' reliance on hardcopy material?

Coppola, Carolyn M. and Joanne Oakley. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Web Design>Online

So You Want to Be a Satellite Student?  

This panel segment focuses on a student's perspective of learning from a distance by satellite. Students interested in obtaining certificates in Technical Communication from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, without being at RPI, can do it when they enroll in the RPI satellite video program (RSVP).

Wagner, Carol A. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Education>Online

So You've Decided to Develop A Distance Education Class...  

As colleges and universities race into Distance Education via the World Wide Web, instructors are asked to move out of their 'safe' zones and into a new realm of teaching.

Walker, Cynthia L. Kairos (2001). Articles>Education>Online

Social Networking and Social Software

Social Networks and Social Software have been gaining a great deal of attention in corporate think tanks and discussion groups around the world. Review of progress in this area and interview with Huy Zing, a self-described, 'seriously addicted online community personality.'

Quenin, Eileen. Usability Professionals Association (2004). Articles>Collaboration>Online

Social-Psychological Influences on Opinion Expression in Face-to-Face and Computer-Mediated Communication    

This study used an experiment embedded within a Web-based survey to examine the influence of contextual (i.e., face-to-face vs. online chat room discussion) and social-psychological factors on individuals' willingness to express opinions. In this experiment, respondents were asked whether they would be willing to express an opinion if they were placed in a face-to-face discussion group in one condition and in an online chat room discussion group in the other condition. Results indicate that print news use, fear of isolation, communication apprehension, future opinion congruency, and communication setting significantly predict willingness to speak out. In addition, not only did fear of isolation have a negative main effect on opinion expression, but this effect was significantly attenuated by computer-mediated discussion. Findings suggest that computer-mediated communication may avoid some of the dysfunctional social-psychological influences found in face-to-face interactions and create a forum conducive for public deliberation.

Ho, Shirley S. and Douglas M. McLeod. Communication Research (2008). Articles>Communication>Online

Software-as-a-Service: Changing The Benefit Packages IT Organizations Offer

If you work in the information technology industry, for instance, especially in the software industry, chances are you are accustomed to having the same days off from work as everyone else: bank, religious, and national holidays—and, if you are creative about your planning—vacation days that you take before and after these holidays to create an extended break, usually coinciding with times others in your life are also away from work and school. But, the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model will likely change all that. And, the changes don’t bode well for family vacations or extended holidays with your sweetheart.

Abel, Scott. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Careers>TC>Software>Online

Some Ideas About Producing Online Modules: Learning Dynamics Australia    

Online learning results from the interaction of a learner and a Web-based set of content and collaboration with other people. The selection and direction of the content are determined by the learning and business outcomes of any module. The client sets the outcomes and provides the content. The LDA team translates that content into a set of screen components that state the meaning of the content and builds in continuity through a navigation system. In addition, collaboration with a tutor andother learners helps to maintain the personal nature of learning.

Morgan, David. CPTSC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Education>Online>Australia

A Sounding Board for the Self: Virtual Community as Ideology    

Claims about the emergence of a new type of social aggregation--"virtual community"--cover a type of ideological discourse about social interactions. The main cultural resource fueling this ideology is the counterculture and its social project. Virtual community, both as a discursive and as a social practice, is a culmination rather than a resolution of the modern conflict between community and individuality. Presenting virtual community as a panacea for modern social tensions, especially that between individualistic and communitarian ideals, hides from sight not only some of the negative aspects of on-line social life (cliquish behavior and incivility) but also the role played by communication technology in fragmenting modern society.

Matei, Sorin Adam. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2005). Articles>Cyberculture>Community Building>Online

The Soundproof Book: Exploration of Rights Conflict and Access to Commercial EBooks for People with Disabilities

This document will lay out the heated rights controversy concerning the use of synthetic speech -- Text-To-Speech (TTS) as it relates to the use of eBook publications by persons with disabilities.

Kerscher, George and Jim Fruchterman. OeB (2002). Articles>Publishing>Online>eBooks

Specifications for the Digital Talking Book

This standard defines the format and content of the electronic file set that comprises a digital talking book (DTB) and establishes a limited set of requirements for DTB playback devices. It uses established and new specifications to delineate the structure of DTBs whose content can range from XML text only, to text with corresponding spoken audio, to audio with little or no text. DTBs are designed to make print material accessible and navigable for blind or otherwise print-disabled persons.

National Information Standards Organization (2002). Resources>Publishing>Online

Speedy Delivery  

We've come a long way since the Pony Express, but delivering electronic documents isn't always easy. Here are a few tips to make sure they arrive intact and on time.

Fleishman, Glenn. Adobe Magazine (1998). Articles>Collaboration>Online

A Spoken Genre Gets Written: Online Football Commentaries in English, French, and Spanish    

Many recent studies on computer-mediated communication (CMC) have addressed the question of orality and literacy. This article examines a relatively recent subgenre of CMC, that of written online sports commentary, that provides us with written CMC that is clearly based on firmly established oral genres, those of radio and television sports commentary. The examples analyzed are from two English, two French, and two Spanish online football (soccer) commentaries. The purpose of the study is to examine oral traits and genre mixing in online football commentaries in the three languages and carryover from the spoken genres of radio and television commentaries to this developing genre, following Ferguson. Special attention is paid to Web page design. The study reveals that form and content of online football commentaries are strongly affected by the style of the online newspaper.

Pérez-Sabater, Carmen, Gemma Peña-Martínez, Ed Turney and Begoña Montero-Fleta. Written Communication (2008). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Online

Standards for Visuals for Online Help: Selected Examples  

The panelists provide examples of standards for visuals that reduce text and increase access in online Help. They briefly cover how these visuals solve problems for both customers and Help designers, and they discuss standards for two of the visuals selected for the session. Audience ranking determines the order of the remaining visuals. In covering the visuals, the panelists use examples from Help for highly sophisticated engineering, applications whose users have varying levels of experience and comfort with computer software. The panelists also provide checklists for developing standards, including standards for how information should look and, more importantly, work.

Bibus, Connie M. 'C.J.' and Kristy J. Dale. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help

The State of Navigation  

How do customers expect to access online Help? Once in the Help system, how do they expect to navigate toward the information they need? In the absence of detailed research that tells us what customers know about getting and using online Help, we can look for clues in the marketplace. A survey of the Help systems in more than sixty Windows 95 applications (including those in the major suites from Corel, Lotus, and Microsoft) shows some clear trends. These trends can help us understand what customers are coming to expect from online Help based on their experience with other Windows 95 applications.

Elley, Frank. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help

State of Online Graphics  

Judging from the work of fellow Help writers, the value of graphics in online Help is subject to debate. Of the more than sixty Help systems reviewed for this session (including the suites from Corel, Lotus, and Microsoft), fewer than half featured significant use of graphics. Even the Help systems of some graphics applications consisted mainly of text, broken only occasionally by utilitarian screenshots of tools and buttons. Yet, even though we have had only a few years of experience in designing graphics for online Help, many of the Help systems revealed a wealth of good ideas worth adapting for use in your own systems.

Elley, Frank. STC Proceedings (1998). Design>Web Design>Graphic Design>Online

Static in the Electronic Classroom: Can Technology Get in the Way of Learning?  

Technology can be a very powerful tool in the technical communication classroom, but can technology sometimes get in the way of learning? It can if we do not carefully plan our transition from the traditional to the electronic classroom. In preparing for this transition, we must consider the needs of our students, the capabilities of the technology, and our own responsibilities as instructors.

Glover, Kyle S. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Education>Online

Steps To Successful Documentation on CD-ROM  

The authors suggest a 10-step process for planning, tracking, and completing an online documentation project.

Hernandez, Susan K. and Timothy R. Repel. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>Online

Strategies for Producing Browser-Based Technical Documentation

This Technical Note attempts to provide a few good strategies for resolving some of the issues around producing and viewing Web-based technical documentation. The Note may be useful for engineers, technical writers and content producers who must wrestle with issues of producing documents such as ReadMe files, Release Notes, technical articles, and other forms of technical communication that land on the Web.

Apple Inc. (1996). Design>Documentation>Help>Online

Students as Netizens: Connecting the Classroom with the Web  

Connecting students with the digital world available through the Internet is an aspect of the traditional technical communication classroom that is often stated as a goal by many instructors. Accomplishing this task is sometimes a pedagogical challenge. Some of the issues involved in turning students into competent 'netizens' result from pre-existing student attitudes, while others reside directly with the instructor. Ultimately, it is the instructor’s responsibility to construct meaningful learning experiences that incorporate the rich resources of the Web in ways that enhance course learning goals. While focusing on the Web as a supplementary learning resource, instructors can stimulate learning experiencs by functioning as 'navigators' and 'pathfinders' in creating 'Web treasure hunts' for their student netizens.

Shirk, Henrietta Nickels. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Education>Online

Students' Technological Difficulties in Using Web-Based Learning Environments  

To provide quality education as we seek to use emerging electronic technologies, TPC faculty must continually reconceptualize what constitutes a classroom and what characterizes our roles as effective teachers. To explore these issues, we focus on the technological difficulties students encounter when learning in a web-based environment that includes using websites for course content, email to interact and send attachments, instant messaging, and listservs or threaded discussions. How do students with little experience in using these types of computer technology learn to complete the tasks required by their courses successfully? How do faculty prevent them from becoming so frustrated with the technology that they give up or transfer that frustration to course content, creating a barrier to their learning?

Southard, Sherry and Philip Rubens. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Education>Instructional Design>Online

Survey on Electronic Book Features  

While people may not want a radical departure from the paper book, they want to do things with electronic books that are not possible with paper books. For example, they want to 'personalize' their electronic book reading experience by changing the fonts, typefaces, and margins, moving illustrations and tables around the page, sizing images differently than text, and so on. In effect, people want to manage the presentation of information within the electronic book. This raises an issue because not only do people want to manage presentation, they want to add content to electronic books they purchased. For example, they may read a related article and want to add that content to the book. Adding content should not be viewed as simply creating an annotation or note but adding content that becomes part of the book and incorporated into the table of contents and index.

Henke, Harold. OeB (2002). Articles>Publishing>Online>eBooks

Surveying the City of Bits: Community, Commerce and the Virtual University

In contemporary business texts corporate sponsored on-line communities are described as central to the commercial development of the Internet, and to the imagined future of narrowcasting and mass customization in the wider world of marketing and advertising. My paper outlines a history of how on-line community has been represented within models of e-commerce. It critically examines the arguments, narratives and rhetorical strategies drawn on within contemporary business texts to represent on-line community. The paper also examines some of the connections that are emerging between commercial on-line community development, and commercial models of on-line education. My paper explores how many of the same organizations, strategies, and ways of representing on-line communities and community resources associated with corporate sponsored on-line communities are being reproduced in models of on-line education. I argue that strategic alliances ought to be made between academics and various community groups.

Werry, Chris. EServer (1999). Articles>Education>Online

Sustainable Practices in Distance Education    

We are engaged in distance education because our graduate program is committed to responsible instructional practices in the computer age. As humanists, our efforts in this relatively new area are primarily energized by opportunities to revisit basic educational assumptions, test the social claims made about distanceeducation, and prepare future teachers who can operate both effectively and judiciously in online environments. From our perspective, departments that foreground the values of the profession will find distance education tobe a productive site for literacy education, one that can even influence the shape of resident instruction in positive ways.

Selber, Stuart A. CPTSC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Education>Online